A strong French support for ending India’s atomic isolation and the joint exploration of ways to delay, if not prevent, a confrontation between US and Iran over Tehran’s n-programme are likely to be the highlights of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s talks with President Jacques Chirac tomorrow in Paris.Chirac, who was the first international leader to talk about Delhi’s legitimate need for nuclear energy way back in 1998, is now expected to take the lead, along with the US, in convincing the international community to relax the rules on civilian nuclear commerce with India.Despite the strong focus on bilateral relations in the talks between Singh and Chirac, they are being called upon to address the nuclear question in Iran which is emerging as a first rate international crisis.The talks with Chirac, should give Singh the much needed elbow room on Iran as he prepares to meet the US President George W Bush hours after landing in New York on Tuesday.The Bush Administration has already sought, publicly, support from India, China and Russia in forcing the pace of international diplomacy on Iran.France, which has been one of the three European countries negotiating with Iran on the nuclear issue, might want to ensure that there is a little more room for diplomacy before Iran is brought before the United Nations Security Council, for possible sanctions.The EU Three—France, Britain and Germany—have been frustrated with their inability to persuade Iran to suspend its activity on uranium conversion and have drifted closer to the American position on Iran in the recent weeks.However, Singh and Chirac might want to make sure that all political alternatives are exhausted before a crucial meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors on September 19 in Vienna.The US wants the Board to refer Iran’s nuclear non-compliance with its obligations to the UN Security Council. Iran is resisting the move. Meanwhile India’s ties with Iran and its approach to the current crisis have begun to cast a shadow over Delhi’s own nuclear cooperation with Washington.One option for Singh and Chirac is to make an appeal to the Iranian government to resume its suspension of uranium processing, if it wants to avoid a confrontation with the US and the international community.Both Singh and Chirac recognise that an Iranian decision, in the next few days, to return to the implementation of the Paris Agreement with the EU three signed at the end of last year might stave off the crisis.There will be a strong rapport between the two leaders, particularly after the government’s decisions on the purchase of the Airbus aircraft for the Indian Airlines and the Scorpene submarines for the Indian Navy on the very eve of Singh’s visit to Paris.Both the deals, which were kept hanging for a long time by Delhi had generated considerable unease in Paris about India’s intentions.In his talks with Chirac on the margins of the G-8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland in July, Singh had assured Chirac that India will move decisively on long-pending items on the bilateral agenda.Having restored India’s credibility as a reliable partner, Singh now has all the room to explore the full potential of cooperation with France in the areas of defence, nuclear, space and other high technology sectors.
